Telecommunications networks use a plurality of network nodes and communication channels to rapidly communicate large amounts of data through the network. The nodes of a telecommunication network may be configured to send, receive, and forward data over the communication channels of the network. Certain nodes within the network may be powered by a power distribution system. Such power distribution systems are designed to deliver power to the telecommunications equipment through a series of electrical circuits. A power distribution system, such as a circuit breaker panel, is designed to deliver power and to protect the electrical circuits from damage potentially caused by equipment overheating, a short circuit, or an overloaded circuit. Circuit breaker panels may be configured into various sizes, depending on the type and size of equipment being powered.
Circuit breaker panels typically include a plurality of contacts or conductors, such as feeder bus bars, in order to carry a load current. The bus bars are typically made of copper, aluminum, or a metal-alloy composition. Bus bars are typically either flat strips or hollow tubes, as these configurations typically allow for more efficient heat dissipation while safely carrying the maximum amount of current.
Circuit breaker panels, typically include a main printed circuit board (PCB) that is configured to detect input voltage levels from the feeder and return bus bars and sense other externally-fed input signals. The main PCB is typically hard-wired to each bus bar and each signal input. For example, the PCB may be wired to each bus bar via a cable assembly, which comprises a series of individual wires that are manually connected between the main PCB and the bus bars. Also, in the case of sensing externally-fed input signals, the main PCB may also be manually wired to a wire wrap block via a cable assembly. Each of the individual wires of the cable assembly are wrapped to each pin of the wire wrap block. However, the process of manually wiring the bus bars and wire wrap block to the main PCB can be time and cost intensive, in addition to providing an increased possibility for mis-wiring within the power distribution unit. Therefore, there is a need for a system and method for determining the system voltage levels of the bus bars and for sensing other input signals, without the use of manually wired cable assemblies in the power, within the power distribution system.